FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Parking at Fayetteville High School is so cramped, residents nearby are leasing space for students to park off-campus, but that isn’t exactly legal.
The district uses a lottery system for students to get parking permits, so that means there are just under 450 spaces of for grabs for juniors and seniors.
Associate Superintendent Dr. Megan Slocum said they are working to figure out how to get more parking.
“I also think that as phase one was being completed, the next phase was phase two and I think that it has always been intended that phase three would be how are we going to park and access the facility,” she said.
This has forced students to look for parking off campus and some residents turning their lawns into lots.
Fayetteville City Planning Director Andrew Garner said the city received several complaints.
“We did this summer a couple of weeks ago go ahead and issue actual violation notices to a few people that had actually cleared their property, put gravel down and created parking lots and that's in violation of some of the city`s development rules,” he said.
Garner said they also sent out a zoning notice to 50 people in the area letting them know you must have a conditional use permit to rent out your yard as a parking lot.
Slocum said the district is working with the city and the university to try come up with a solution.
“That is what our goal is and we are trying to work through the issues of being landlocked in a growing city with a growing district and a growing university. So, my encouragement would be to be patient as we continue to work through the growing pains together,” she said.
Those parking permits at Fayetteville High School are only available to juniors and seniors and are $50 per student. The High School has about 2,500 students in all.